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CART: Team owners mandate the use of head and neck supports for 2001

24 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
CART's Franchise Team Owners recently mandated that effective with the first FedEx Championship Series event of the 2001 season, all Champ Car drivers must wear the HANS (Head and Neck Support) Device for all oval-track testing and race-event activities. The device is also recommended for road-course events.

The HANS Device was designed to reduce the extreme head motions and neck loads that injure drivers during high-speed impact accidents. The HANS yoke-collar is held to the driver's chest by the shoulder harness, while tethers from the collar to the helmet provide support for the head and neck. In its original configuration, the HANS Device has been used by approximately 250 drivers in many different classes of racing cars and boats.

The HANS Device was designed by Dr. Bob Hubbard, a biomechanical engineer whose brother-in-law, Jim Downing, is a veteran sports car racer. It was tested at Wayne State (Mich.) University and at the General Motors Technical Institute before Hubert Gramling, a Mercedes engineer, helped to adapt the system for drivers who compete in a reclining position, as in the FedEx Championship Series.

"The introduction of the HANS Device for drivers in open-wheel racing is the most significant safety development since the introduction of the spec helmet," said CART Chief Steward J. Kirk Russell. "We are making the Device optional for road-course competition because the drivers who have used it have felt that it's a bit confining and that it will take some getting used to at those events."

Veteran driver Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) is one of the Champ Car drivers who has worn the HANS device in competition.

"I will use it all the time," Fittipaldi said. "I was for it ever since the beginning. I think it's the best available [thing] out there in order to keep you safe. I'll never step into a car on an oval without it."

Text provided by T.E. McHale

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